Marsbarn Designs...

The Play Palace

What have you been doing on the first day of Spring?
This is what we've been doing....

 

A new friend says, "I have a small play house which my children have out grown, would you like it?"
We, of course, say "Yes."
This again proves that size is relative.
I do so hope that the rain tomorrow holds off until we've finished assembling the new play palace!

Have the heard the one about....?

Last night while eating dinner, I made Sweetheart G laugh so hard that milk came out of her nose.
My great witticism?

"What scientific discoveries have actually been made with a radio telescope?"

Oh ya.  I'm totally ready for the Stand Up circuit with that zinger.
This morning I found G getting ready for school muttering, "Radio telescope" and giggling.

So I said: "Radio telescope?"

Sweet G: "Ya Mom.  Whatcha gonna do look and listen?"

Me: "Actually, you don't look with a radio telescope, you just listen... in space."

Sweet G: "Hahahahaha that's so funny!"

confessions of the preferably sedate

I am not what you might call aerobically inclined.
My preferred method of exercise is walking.
I walk fast, and I walk a lot,
but I am really not interested in getting sweaty.

Now that I've been taking Taekwon Do for the past five months, I have learned the following things about adding a pure cardio workout into my life:

1.  It makes me tired.  This crock I hear from people about feeling invigorated after an hour of cardio is a big ol' bucket of bullcrap. 

2. High waisted, white baggy pants are not slimming.  

3. Two walls of full length mirrors reinforce #2 and dispel any illusion you might have had about being graceful.

4. A good sports bra is a spiritual thing, and the first time you wear it you wonder why you spent so much time bobbing about before you smacked down the money to buy the damn thing.

5. As muscle builds, fat becomes more (not less!) bouncy.  It is like the stuff becomes unhinged and starts rolling about. (Refer to #2 and #3)

6. You realize that your knees are 38 years old and grumpy.

7. Children are excellent motivators and keep you very honest.

8. Sparring can be very therapeutic.

9. Laughing at your own shortcomings is a good thing.

10. And, most importantly, you have stumbled upon a kind and supportive community of people who (sometimes creatively) find things to complement you on, and that you look forward to class and miss it greatly when you cannot attend.  

Ombrig Ombrig

From Big E:

On Monday, I found this sign posted on the door of  the upstairs bathroom :

"Ombrig Ombrig sat on a wall,

Ombrig Ombrig had a gaet Fall,

it toch all hogwarts' stodits, 

anoall hogwarts' men,

to chas ombrig awt of the casol awer."

Next time Little E was upstairs, I asked her, 

"Could you please read the sign to me?"

She read, "Umbridge, Umbridge sat on a wall.

Umbridge, Umbridge had a great fall.

It took all of Hogwarts' students

and all of Hogwarts' men

to chase Umbridge out of the castle again."

I asked, "Where did you learn that?"

Little E grinned, "I made it up, Dad."

Everytime I see it, the words are stuck in my head.

"Ombrig Ombrig......."

In need of a Moxie infusion

Hey little girl, can you spare some moxie for your Mom?
'Cause she's feeling a bit down.

We live our lives through the choices we make.
We roll with the punches, and get up as well as we're able.
Then we look around, see the lay of the land, and find a new course to take.

Today is a wipe the dust from your backside sort of day.
But this time,  putting things to right feels slow and hard.
Instead of the normal "weeble's wobble" metaphor 
("weeble's wobble, but they don't fall down"),
I feel more like Humpty Dumpty.

Moving on

The auction was last night, and the quilts have gone to their loving new homes.

This means I am done with auction stuff for the season

(okay, except for one more very small set of books being printed).

But, it is time for moving on.

Those little cravings that burrow into your brain while you should be doing other things.

I have a thing about this scarf.

And by "thing" I mean I have a irrational desire to make it, as shown, in those bright poppy colors.

The colors in the scarf are more candy flavored than I usually like, but there is just something so yummy and bright about it. 

I have a bin full of Cascade 220 that I could use to make a more savory colored version.. which would mean I'd be "using up" leftovers, not gathering more materials or investing capital.. but... 220 is not the soft, luscious stuff that I see this scarf as being, plus it is a heavier weight yarn that I think was originally used. Really it is a work horse yarn, an "it's good for you" type of product. 

If I made this scarf, with what I have on hand, would I be satiated with the result?  Or would it be like eating a carrot stick, when what I really want is a salted carmel wrapped in chocolate?  

And another thing's done, and another thing's done

Oh my goodness, things are actually getting done. 

The package to Scholastic for Little e's class book was taken away by the Postal Elves this morning.  The dice bag orders that were held up by the chaos of last week are on their way.  Auntie O helped me catch up on household chores.  And (drum roll please) the taxes are done and submitted. Phew.

This has been a week where I want to use a fat tipped Sharpie to cross items off the To Do list. 
I want to see those big, thick lines on the white lined paper and revel in the permanent done-ness.

I'm waiting for a sense of calmness to settle in,
but I'm still feeling uptight.
Perhaps it's a hangover from Big E's incident last week,
although I think I've felt fairly calm throughout. 

The auction is this weekend.
I'm looking forward to going and to see how things sell.
I hope all of the projects are successful, but more than that I hope the parents are excited by their children's projects.
I'm also looking forward to bidding on few small items myself.

Focus and capture

It occurred to me today, that I have no recent photos of the girls.
Truth to be told, I have not been taking many photos of anything as of late.

 

I've been too busy, too much with the rushing 
and the bumbling, and the trying instead of doing.
Taking photographs requires the sort of clickety-clack,
old fashioned streetcar busy, 
not the nearly silent, high speed Japanese super train,
get it done, frantic busy I've been feeling lately.

I feel like I haven't been taking the time to mark the days.
When something comes together, I sigh with relief 
and reach for the next thing.

Going to the doctor with Sweetheart G this week reminded me of how quickly my time as her mother is going by.  
Ten years.  Where does it all go?  
Do I do enough?  Am I doing the right things?
What kind of memories am I leaving my girl with?

Some weeks it is just so hard to find the right place to focus.

He's my Greek brother from another mother.

Sisyphus and I are tight this week.

Really.  Like we could belong to the same Union and know the same secret handshake.

My To Do list today looks an awful lot like the one I had last week.
The taxes still haven't been started.
The laundry is still out of control.
The dust bunnies have started yet another uprising, 
(and I'm actually thinking that perhaps a dust bunnian dictatorship wouldn't be so bad).

And, although the fourth grade auction project is done and done, the first grade project continues to throw the occasional wrench.  It was discovered this week that I accidently left one student off of the credits list (sigh).  So new back pages were printed, books were redone and the second edition of the book had to be corrected before being printed.  The final permission slip has been turned in, so we are sending the book to Scholastic.  

This weekend should be good though.  It started with dinner at a friend's house last night, which was lovely and just what I needed to end this very  l o n g  week.  Today friends are coming to spend the day with us, and tomorrow I'm running away from home*.

(*also known as "going to the Expo Antique show with my Mom and Auntie O.")